How to endorse a PM candidate: The Sri Sri Ravi Shankar guide

When poll fever strikes, few are immune – even spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The founder of Art of Living spiritual course has over the last few months been active on the political columnist circuit, actively criticising political parties and alliances.   The spiritual leader, who in the past was associated with the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement, was quoted as saying that in his opinion regional parties shouldn’t be allowed to contest elections altogether. “We should have a rule that regional parties should not contest national elections…We don’t need a khichdi. If there is a weak government, the dollar may touch the 100-rupee mark to make the economy extremely weak. We need a strong and corruption-free government,” the spiritual leader was quoted as saying in an Indian Express report. [caption id=“attachment_1469569” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The spiritual leader has remained mum on who he’s endorsing. AFP[/caption] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also  endorsed the changing of the government every ten years and that ‘secular’ parties tended to get more involved in religious politics than those who didn’t wear their credentials on their sleeve. While on this occasion the guru has made his views on Indian polity in public, he’s largely restricted them to his various pieces across English dailies. First he critiqued the formation of Telangana saying : One of the main grievances of Telangana is that the people of Seemandhra dominate almost every aspect of the state. No one from Telangana was ever stopped from getting involved in the political or economic arena of the state. The talented and hardworking will always capture attention wherever they are, just like Gujaratis, Parsis, Jains and Marwadis are dominant almost everywhere. Then he criticised one time friend Kejriwal saying: If AAP is voted for a role in national politics and if Arvind does what he did in Delhi, it will be an absolute disaster for the country. India cannot afford to take such a risk when the country is on a ventilator with most economic parameters vulnerably placed. We need a stable government with a strong leadership at the Center for our economy to come back on track and spur development. Then came the delay in declaring Lok Sabha candidates: A leader should rise from the bottom winning the hearts of people rather than being imposed by the party high command. In a democracy, it is very important that the representatives understand who they represent and vice versa. And finally today an endorsement for voting : I urge people to take responsibility to ensure that everybody among their friends and family cast their vote this time and vote wisely. Let voting be like a picnic celebration where the whole family or a group of families goes together without being daunted by the weather or the traffic. Let us do this as our sacred duty. This election is like an examination for all of us but I’m sure that after passing through this phase, our country will truly blossom. There is a common rather unmissable theme that runs through the pieces with the endorsement for a leader who has risen from the bottom, one who appeals to the youth, doesn’t hail from a regional party and isn’t Arvind Kejriwal. And while he hasn’t said in so many words who he’s endorsing, its unlikely the guru is in favour of Rahul Gandhi. The spiritual guru has played it safer than many of his peers like Baba Ramdev, who tried his surrogate advertisement skills at endorsing the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate through a yoga camp and ended up earning a notice from the Election Commission. He’s stayed away from political rallies or even standing next to the picture of any political leader but has spoken about Goddess Lakshmi riding on a lotus. When asked if he was endorsing any one candidate, the guru said he wasn’t interested in interfering in the choice of his followers’ candidates. But in India, gurus who have hedged their bets on politics have often found themselves on the receiving end when their rivals come to power or even worse, when the object of their praise turns on them. Sri Sri has set himself up for reaping all the benefits of a certain strong leader coming to power, but also not running afoul of other national parties. Unless of course Jayalalithaa, Mamata Banerjee or Arvind Kejriwal become the next Prime Minister, which happily for guruji is somewhat unlikely.